What was happening when God spoke to Jeremiah in this passage?

God spoke to Jeremiah while Babylon’s king, Nebuchadnezzar, and his huge army were attacking Jerusalem and the remaining fortified cities of Judah like Lachish and Azekah. The city was under siege, and the kingdom of Judah was close to collapse. In this crisis, God sent a clear word to King Zedekiah through Jeremiah: Jerusalem would be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, the city would be burned, and Zedekiah himself would be captured and taken to Babylon. The whole message comes in a moment of national fear and pressure.

Who was King Zedekiah and what message did he receive from God?

King Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before Jerusalem fell to Babylon. Through Jeremiah, God told him that he would not escape from the Babylonians. He would see the king of Babylon face to face and be taken to Babylon, and the city would be burned with fire. At the same time, God gave a small mercy: Zedekiah would not die by the sword in battle, but would die in peace and be mourned with the same kind of burning of spices and public lament that former kings of Judah had received.

What was the covenant to proclaim liberty in Jerusalem about?

During the siege, Zedekiah and the people in Jerusalem made a public covenant to free their Hebrew male and female servants. This followed God’s law that a Hebrew who had served six years should be released in the seventh year. They did this in God’s house, showing it was a very serious promise made before Him. At first they obeyed and let their fellow Israelites go free. It was a moment where they briefly did what was right in God’s sight by showing justice and mercy to their brothers and sisters.

Why was God angry when the people took back their Hebrew servants?

God was angry because the people had made a solemn covenant in His name to free their Hebrew servants, then later reversed it and forced them back into bondage. God says they had done right when they proclaimed liberty, but then they turned, polluted His name, and brought those they had set free back under their control. This broke both His earlier command given after bringing Israel out of Egypt and the new covenant they had just made. Their change of heart showed hypocrisy and contempt for God’s word and for their neighbors.

What does it mean that God proclaims liberty to the sword, pestilence, and famine?

When God says He proclaims a liberty for them to the sword, pestilence, and famine, He is turning their own words back on them. They refused to give real freedom to their fellow Israelites, so God declares a different kind of “freedom”: He will let loose war, disease, and hunger against them. Instead of freedom from bondage, they will face removal and scattering among all the kingdoms of the earth. It is a sharp picture of judgment, showing that ignoring God’s call to justice brings very real and painful consequences.

What is the meaning of cutting a calf in two and passing between the parts?

This refers to an old way of making a very serious covenant. People would cut a calf in two and walk between the pieces, as if to say, “May this happen to me if I break this promise.” In this passage, God mentions the leaders, priests, and people who had done this when they agreed to free their servants. By breaking that covenant, they showed they did not take their own oath seriously. God says He will give them into the hands of their enemies, and their bodies will become food for birds and animals, matching the picture that the ritual itself implied.

What does this passage teach about God’s view of justice and mercy?

This passage shows that God deeply cares about justice, especially how His people treat one another. He reminds them that He freed their fathers from slavery in Egypt and commanded that fellow Hebrews must not be kept in permanent bondage. When they briefly obeyed and freed their servants, God said they had done right in His sight. But when they reversed course, He called it polluting His name. At the same time, He shows mercy in promising Zedekiah a peaceful death. Together this shows God as both just toward sin and caring toward people.

Why is Zedekiah told he will both suffer defeat and yet die in peace?

Zedekiah is told two things that might seem hard to hold together. On one hand, he will not escape; he will face the king of Babylon, be taken to Babylon, and see his city burned. On the other hand, God says he will not die by the sword but will die in peace and be mourned with the honorable rites given to earlier kings. This shows that even when God judges, He can still give a measure of mercy. Zedekiah’s rule will end in shame and loss, yet his personal end will not be by violent death in battle.

How can this passage about broken covenants apply to believers today?

This passage warns that making promises before God, especially about how we treat others, is not a light thing. The people of Judah acted sincerely for a moment, freeing their fellow Israelites, then went back on their word when things seemed safer. God calls that a pollution of His name. For believers today, it encourages us to be honest and steady in our commitments, to care about justice for others, and not to use hard times as a moment for showy repentance that we drop later. God sees both our promises and what we actually do.

Jer.34.1

Jeremiah 34:1

KJV

The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,

A Prophecy against Zedekiah

1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,

2 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:

3 And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.

4 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the Lord of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:

5 But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the Lord.

6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,

7 When the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.

Freedom for Hebrew Slaves

8 ¶ This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;

9 That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.

10 Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.

11 But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.

12 ¶ Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

13 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,

14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.

15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.

17 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,

19 The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;

20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.

21 And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which are gone up from you.

22 Behold, I will command, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.

Cross References

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